It seems like only yesterday when we were making exciting plans for 2021, believing that the pandemic wouldn’t extend into the new year. Fast forward 12 months and a new COVID variant has only just emerged. Like everyone’s been saying, we’re going to have to learn to live with this virus.

Our workplace has changed so much in these past 2 years, and it’ll continue to do so in 2022 as well. Undoubtedly, the needs of workers around the world have evolved too. It’s crucial that human resources teams are prepared to meet these fast-changing needs. Here are the 5 HR trends to watch out for.

1 – Role flexibility and purpose

Gone are the days when employees were motivated by additional responsibilities and a career growth. Their focus has shifted to learning, personal development and doing something meaningful. Something that makes an impact.

Of course, not every business and role have a direct impact on the betterment of the society; however, leaders can help their teams create a meaning in their role by helping them find their purpose such as “making every customer feel special” or “ensuring that every team member feels valued”. Without it, it’s easy to forget what gets us out of bed each day, ultimately leading to a disconnect.

Concurrently, the pandemic has made most people assess what’s important in their lives, and it’s no surprise that their personal growth and family take precedence over work. Many might request to reduce their weekly hours, or wish to reduce their usual responsibilities, or even just avoid taking on new tasks to be able to enjoy a quality life.

Businesses will learn to accommodate such requests while also ensuring that they don’t lose valuable talent from their workforce. We’ll need to find creative and flexible roles to keep everyone employed and engaged.

2 – Empathetic leadership

There was a 20% increase in calls made to Lifeline during the pandemic, not to forget that other helplines such as Beyond Blue and the Butterfly Foundation also reported a significant increase. People are looking for assurance and certainty while the world around them is stressful and unreliable. It is of utmost importance that leaders lead with empathy, and more importantly, compassion.

The role of a manager is nowhere near what it used to be some years ago. Their job isn’t just to provide feedback and guidance on tasks, but to also be a mentor for their team. Someone they can look up to and approach when they are in need. Someone they aspire to be, someone they can relate to. Businesses must provide their management teams with the necessary skills and training so they can be the leader that their workforce desperately needs.

3 – Evolution of the hiring process

Certainly, we have all come across companies that ask their candidates to meet with several stakeholders during the recruitment process or take forever to make a hiring decision. Soon this will be obsolete if it hasn’t happened already. In this competitive and fast-moving world, businesses can’t afford to spend so much time sitting on it while their candidates are flush with job offers from elsewhere.

We’ll need to reassess our recruitment methods, recruitment styles and the overall length of the entire process. Our systems must become efficient. Additionally, with the candidate market being so scarce and aggressive, HR teams will be compelled to conduct a skills gap analysis and create a development plan within their organisations so they can hire internally instead.

4 – Career experience over development

Employees are now much less likely to work in a single organization their entire lives. The newer generations are known to change jobs more often due to plain boredom or lack of purpose, or merely due to their curiosity to see what else is out there. What can businesses do when they have only so much control over employee retention? No matter how many retention strategies are implemented, not every worker will find it engaging or worthy.

Our focus needs to shift from career development to career experience. We need to come to terms with the fact that not every employee will stay forever. Some will move on sooner than others. The only thing we have any influence on is the kind of experience we can offer them. And who knows, they might want to return to us in future on account of the experience we were able to provide, the development opportunities they were given, and the relationships they were able to build within the business.

5 – Managing a multi-generational workforce

For the first time in history, our workforce has five generations working side-by-side – Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Y – each with their own ideologies, values, and priorities. The trick is in finding what brings everyone together, as opposed to what separates them.

It is essential that our leadership team is equipped with an understanding of where each generation is coming from, the best methods to meet their needs, and leveraging those generational differences for success.

It’s no doubt that being in lockdown and working from home has left some of us feeling fatigued, out of routine and uncertain what the big return to the office will look like. 

Recent surveys are showing most Australians are ready to move to a hybrid working model to allow more work-life balance and increase productivity, however that doesn’t mean we should slip into the same old routine once we return. 

In most instances returning to the office is a great time to start fresh, create healthy habits and strengthen mental health.

WIPE THE SLATE

There is nothing worse than coming home and seeing a mountain of dishes or laundry piled up, so why should your office be any different. For some, it has been months since their office has been touched so there may very well be a firm layer of dust on all surfaces, maybe even some milk in the fridge from June 2021 (it happens!). 

Our most valuable recommendation on your first day back is to take the time to deep clean your workspace, throw out anything unnecessary, file old paperwork properly and return it to all its glory. If you’re unhappy with the layout, change it. If you want to redecorate and revamp, go right ahead. Not only do you end up with a beautiful and clean workspace, but your team will appreciate it too. 

ITS AUTOMATIC, SYSTEMATIC

One thing you may want to review when making your big office return is your personal systems and procedures. How you organized your day in 2019 may no longer be relevant or time effective and with all the amazing technology introduced throughout the pandemic, time can be prioritized on the most important things. 

As an example, could a team meeting really be the most effective way to provide information? Possibly a recorded webinar going through essential need-to-know information is going to be received better and taken more seriously. Reducing your email flow and contact between departments can also make for better communication. 

As always, your best chance of improving your processes is in fact a process itself. Define | Measure | Analyze | Design | Verify

COUNT YOUR PENNIES

Prior to the pandemic, the average Australian spent $15-$20 per day on purchasing lunch and snacks on workdays. That’s over $5,000 a year in gourmet sandwiches, greasy delights and food delivery services. 

Since working from home, our eating habits have changed, and our cooking & baking has increased dramatically through essential grocery shopping (most notably, we have all made THE best banana bread, right?). 

This is an amazing behaviour that shouldn’t fade when returning to the office, especially with more flexibility and balance. Making your own lunch at home promotes healthy choices, saves big money, provides unlimited options and there is something personally satisfying about preparing your own meal. 

There are thousands of lunch ideas out there so shake things up for summer. 

YOU DESERVE A BREAK

Did you know that 72% of employees admit to not taking regular lunch or tea breaks? This is either due to time sensitive projects, lack of motivation to leave the office or the old “I’m not hungry” excuse. After such a rollercoaster of 2020 and 2021, this is one habit you’ll be happy to kick. 

Regular breaks are vital to productivity, reducing brain fog, finding inspiration, and building professional relationships. Fresh air revitalises the mind, taking a walk increases the daily step count and chatting with your team around the office can spark new ideas and strengthen teams. 

If you’re the boss, it is important to ensure your team is taking the right breaks too, happy team = healthy targets.  

If you have any ideas or suggestions on what your return to the office is going to look like, we would love to hear it!

A fresh start, a new year (we hope). The past few years we have seen many challenges when it comes to working from home and being able to create that happy work-life balance.

If you are one that is dreading going back into the office because you’ve been able to do tasks such as, put a load of washing on just before a meeting or anything else that will allow you that rest time as soon as you are ‘clocked off’, these tips will help you be able to have a smooth transition back into the office.  

1. Have a look at your office

Throughout the year, you can see a lot of clutter build up in your office. You may be busy one minute and throw some files somewhere they are not meant to be, and suddenly you see a tower of misplaced items. This can unknowingly cause a lot of stress and remove the feeling that the office can be a nice place to be. Set and organized spaces can create a feeling of accomplishment and can suddenly spark that feeling that makes you want to be in the office!

2. Look at what worked for you in your WFH arrangements

Try to transfer the habits you created when WFH into your working from the office lifestyle. Maybe you liked taking a walk in the middle of the day, in the office try going for a walk at the same time to get a coffee or just to walk around the block and take in some sun. all work and no break time will result in burnout, and I am sure you and your boss don’t want that so make sure to take regular breaks throughout the day!

3. You’re back in the office so make sure you log off at home!

We know that sometimes it’s hard to just ‘log off’, you may have something on your mind that you want to get done because it’s stressing you out, so maybe don’t do this every day of the week, but how about once or twice? You are back in the office which means you CAN separate your work-home life and ensure you create that balance.

4. Create a fresh workspace

You may not be able to redesign your entire office (even though it would be lovely if you could), but you can control the space on your desk in your workspace. Why not try adding some nature to your desk or changing up your pen and document holder. Maybe you’ve wanted to try a new filing system, now is the perfect time! Add a picture of your favorite people to your desk, this might help to inspire you in what you’re doing in the office.

A fresh start can be exactly what some of us need and now is the perfect opportunity. We can’t wait to see what 2022 has in store for you.